An overview of exciting postgraduate fellowship opportunities for Penn students, which can fund study abroad as well as independent research and work placements. This session will be run by CURF's Senior Associate Director for Fellowships and Operations, Dr. Wallace Genser, and 2013 Thouron Award recipient and CURF Fellow Elena Gooray.

An overview of exciting postgraduate fellowship opportunities for Penn students, which can fund study abroad as well as independent research and work placements. This session will be run by CURF's Senior Associate Director for Fellowships and Operations, Dr. Wallace Genser, and 2013 Thouron Award recipient and CURF Fellow Elena Gooray.

SPRING 2015 Deadline: March 14, 2015, 4:00pm Winners will be notified by May 8, 2015.

Penn’s Climate Action Plan aims to keep Penn at the forefront of addressing global climate change by supporting undergraduate research in any academic field related to sustainability. Projects that lead to environmentally sustainable programs and policies, contribute to scientific innovations related to sustainability, or deepen our understanding of the social, cultural, artistic, and humanistic aspects of sustainability are encouraged, provided the research is conducted under the direction of a Penn faculty member. Projects in other related fields that support the goals outlined in Penn’s Climate Action Plan are also welcome.

These grants will support students during the summer to conduct independent research under the guidance of a Penn faculty member. Students may be engaged in this work at Penn or elsewhere, and grants will typically range from $2,500 or $5,000, depending on the needs of the project.

Applicants will define and describe the project they will carry out, and an itemized budget of the project costs must be included in the application.

Letter of Recommendation

In addition, your faculty research advisor must separately submit a supporting letter of recommendation on your behalf. It is your responsibility that this letter be submitted to CURF no later than 4:00pm on March 14, 2015. In this letter, your faculty advisor should discuss the feasibility of the project and the adequacy of your preparation to undertake it. The letter should make clear the nature and extent of your contribution in formulating and carrying out the project.

The letter should:

Review and comment on the student’s projected budget

Discuss the project’s feasibility and the adequacy of the applicant’s preparation to complete it

Describe the extent of the student’s contribution in formulating and carrying out the project

Advise the student on any applicable Institutional Review Board or related issues

If applicable, please indicate what supplies or support might be provided by your lab or budget

Please request the letter as soon as possible from your faculty research advisor via the Recommendation Request Form, and inform your faculty research advisor whether you have chosen to keep their letter confidential and waive your right of access to it.

Guidelines for the P-UCAG grant are intentionally open-ended to permit students to define their projects in innovative ways that support twenty-first century solutions to the challenges facing the planet. Prospective applicants are strongly encouraged to speak with potential faculty mentors as early as possible, and applicants are invited to discuss their ideas with Dr. Wallace Genser, Associate Director for Research at the Center for Undergraduate Research and Fellowships (CURF).

P-UCAG grant recipients will be expected to keep a journal, take photos, and/or prepare academic results from their experience, as appropriate. At the conclusion of the project, students will be asked to provide a public presentation of their findings, and may also be asked to provide materials suitable for posting on CURF’s website.

Before proceeding to the Application Form, please prepare the following in one .pdf document. You must submit all these materials in a single file in .pdf format. No other format will be accepted. To create a copy of your Penn transcript, go to Penn InTouch and print your transcript to pdf. (If you don’t have Adobe Acrobat installed on your computer, download the free installer or use a Penn computer that has Adobe Acrobat installed.) Print and save each document as a pdf, then create a single pdf file as indicated above by navigating to Acrobat’s “File -> Create -> Combine Files into a Single PDF” feature.

Proposal Essay: In no more than 500 words describe the project you intend to undertake. With whom will you work? What is exciting, new, or valuable about your project? What contribution will it make? How will you carry out your project? What are the project’s goals, and why is it important?

Personal Statement: In no more than 500 words, describe how this project fits with your academic, personal, or career plans for the future, and with your current academic, personal, and career interests and activities.

Bibliography (no more than one page – limit of 12 items) of key scholarly works (listed in the citation format used in your discipline) providing background for your project. These may be books or articles, and they may be a mix of theoretical and empirical works that inform the project. If desired, a one-sentence annotation may be used to explain a specific item’s relevance to the project, but annotations are not required.

Budget: No more than one page, double-spaced, 12 pt type. Itemize the funds you’re requesting and their purpose. These funds should be used to support you in your project, including travel and living expenses.

The Class of 1971 established this fund in honor of its 25th reunion and in memory of their classmate Robert J. Holtz to help pay the costs of research projects proposed by students. The Holtz Fund provides funds for students pursuing an independent scholarly project during the academic year or summer. Funds can be used for costs of materials and supplies, toward travel costs, or for costs of the project. The Holtz Award is open to all undergraduates at Penn, and research in any field is eligible for support. Examples of funded projects can be found here. Students in the College should apply for the College Alumni Society Undergraduate Research Grant. Students in the College will also be considered for the Holtz Award as funds are available.

Applications and all supporting materials including Faculty Recommendation due electronically to CURF by 4:00pm on March 14.

The Holtz grant will be administered according to the following guidelines:

The project shall represent original research or scholarship allowing the student to make a significant contribution to knowledge.

The project shall be largely conceived and executed by the student and not simply represent faculty research in which the student assists.

While students inherently must investigate their projects before applying for funding, grants will be made only for projects to be carried out after the proposal has been approved. Decisions will be made in April of each academic year for projects that are to be conducted during the summer or the following academic year. In no case will projects already completed be funded.

Each project shall have a faculty advisor who will normally be a member of Penn’s standing faculty. In some cases, a qualified adviser from outside Penn’s standing faculty may be appropriate, subject to the approval of the student’s undergraduate chair or program director.

Recipients are expected to complete their projects before graduation, and therefore students in their final semester are ineligible to apply.

Funding provided should be used to help defray the student’s research costs and should not be a substitute for financial aid nor for the adviser’s research funding. Types of expense to which the funds may be applied include travel to libraries, museums, archives, and research sites; living expenses that would enable the student to remain at the University during the summer; research equipment and supplies, including books, films, and photocopying; computer or laboratory fees; and, specialized computer peripherals and software. (Reimbursement of living expenses may be taxable.) Items that cost $500 or more with a useful life of one year or more must be purchased with a University purchase requisition and will remain the property of the University. The maximum award is $1,000 and students will be expected to submit a final report of expenditures to CURF.

All applicants must be members in good standing of the University of Pennsylvania community.

If several students are applying to work on aspects of the same project, each student must apply individually and describe clearly their independent research project, approach, methods, and evidence. Each student should also note in their individual application that their work is part of a larger project, and identify the other students working on aspects of the project.

Deadlines and Procedure for Application

Applications will be evaluated by a faculty committee designated by CURF. Applications with late material risk being not considered.

Proposals

Prepare your proposal in consultation with your faculty research advisor. You may also wish to consult with the undergraduate chair in your major department or your major program director. In order to be considered for funding, you must identify and provide the contact information (first and last name, department, email, and phone number) of the business administrator for your primary major. Prepare the following five components in this order before proceeding to the Application Form:

Short abstract (on a separate page; explain the overall goals of the project in less than 100 words)

Objectives and Methodology (500 words maximum)

State the objectives and relevance of the proposed work in terms intelligible to an educated non-specialist

Briefly evaluate existing knowledge and work in the area and provide a brief background summary justifying the proposed project’s potential contribution to the field

Describe the design and procedures to be employed and provide a timetable and implementation plan for completion of the project

Itemized Budget, plus total (on a separate page). List each budget item in order of priority and justify it in terms of the work proposed. Include the total amount needed to complete the project (even if this is more than the grant limit of $1,000). If funds are being sought from other sources, state the source and potential amount of such funding. Depending on availability of funds, the amount awarded may be less than the total amount requested

Create an electronic version of your Penn InTouch transcript by going to Academic Records —> Transcript & GPA, and print your transcript as a .pdf

Bibliography (no more than one page – limit of 12 items) of key scholarly works (listed in the citation format used in your discipline) providing background for your project. These may be books or articles, and they may be a mix of theoretical and empirical works that inform the project. If desired, a one-sentence annotation may be used to explain a specific item’s relevance to the project, but annotations are not required

Fill out the application form at Common Research Grant Application. You must submit all these materials in a single file in .pdf format. No other format will be accepted. To create a copy of your Penn transcript, go to Penn InTouch and print your transcript to pdf. (If you don’t have Adobe Acrobat installed on your computer, download the free installer or use a Penn computer that has Adobe Acrobat installed.) Print and save each document as a pdf, then create a single pdf file as indicated above by navigating to Acrobat’s “File -> Create -> Combine Files into a Single PDF” feature.

Letter of Recommendation

In addition, your faculty research advisor must separately submit a supporting letter of recommendation on your behalf. It is your responsibility that this letter be submitted to CURF no later than 4:00pm on March 14, 2015. In this letter, your faculty advisor should discuss the feasibility of the project and the adequacy of your preparation to undertake it. The letter should make clear the nature and extent of your contribution in formulating and carrying out the project.

The letter should:

Review and comment on the student’s projected budget

Discuss the project’s feasibility and the adequacy of the applicant’s preparation to complete it

Describe the extent of the student’s contribution in formulating and carrying out the project

Advise the student on any applicable Institutional Review Board or related issues

If applicable, please indicate what supplies or support might be provided by your lab or budget

Please request the letter as soon as possible from your faculty research advisor via the Recommendation Request Form, and inform your faculty research advisor whether you have chosen to keep their letter confidential and waive your right of access to it.

Once the award has been made and the Research Experience Checklist and Waiver of Liability has been submitted to CURF and approved, research funds and a copy of your budget will be sent to the Business Administrator (BA) of your Primary major department listed on your application. Recipients must work with their Primary major department’s BA to determine how to access these funds.

Research involving animals or hazardous materials must also be submitted at the same time for approval by the relevant University oversight committees. Students should consult with their faculty research advisors to correctly submit any necessary forms.

Contact

HASSENFELD FOUNDATION SOCIAL IMPACT RESEARCH GRANT

SPRING 2015 DEADLINE: March 14, 2015, 4:00pm

Purpose, Eligibility, and Expectations

The Hassenfeld Foundation Social Impact Research Grant has been established to provide support to undergraduate students in the College of Arts and Sciences who are undertaking innovative research or social entrepreneurship projects or internships with potential for real-world outcomes and significant social impact. It is expected that through this experience student recipients will develop a deeper understanding of our increasingly interconnected world – within the US and beyond – as well as a greater appreciation of the challenges facing society.

The Hassenfeld Foundation Social Impact Research Grant seeks to support opportunities for personally enriching research and/or service for students in the summer after their freshman or sophomore year. The Fund will provide a stipend to recipients that can be used for travel, research costs, and modest living expenses. College students in any discipline are eligible. International students are eligible to apply, as long as they are eligible to work in the US (International students should consult Penn Global’s Office of International Student and Scholar Services if they have questions about eligibility to work in the US). Student recipients are expected to return to Penn to share their experiences with other students and to contribute to an entrepreneurial culture of service at Penn and in the larger world.

All projects related to the Fund’s goals will be considered, but since one goal of the fund is to promote deep understanding of the roots of social challenges, preference will be given to projects that students have originated and developed on their own (in consultation with recognized specialists at Penn or elsewhere), rather than working within an established organization.

It is expected that each applicant will consult with and seek guidance from at least one Penn faculty member with expertise in the area, and each application must be supplemented by a letter of recommendation from a Penn faculty member with experience conducting similar or related work in the same discipline, topic, or geographic area in order to speak to the general feasibility of the project, as well as the student’s ability to successfully carry out the project. Applicants are advised to seek out and develop mentoring relationships with potential Penn faculty members early in developing and designing their projects. In addition, projects that will take place outside the US require both a recommendation from a Penn faculty member with expertise in the area and a letter of willingness from a local project affiliate who can guide and serve as a resource to the student while abroad.

Guidelines for the Hassenfeld Foundation Social Impact Research Grant are intentionally open-ended to permit students to shape and define their own projects. It is expected that the process of designing a project, seeking guidance, identifying and contacting a local affiliate, and crafting a budget could take several months. Prospective applicants are therefore encouraged to begin preparing early and are invited to discuss potential projects with Dr. Ann Vernon-Grey, CURF’s Associate Director for Research (anneliza@upenn.edu).

Hassenfeld Foundation Social Impact Research Grant recipients will be expected to keep a journal, take photos (when appropriate), and/or prepare academic results from their experience, as appropriate to their field. After their return, all recipients will give a presentation of their experiences.

Application

Before clicking through to the application form, please prepare the following in one document (.pdf only). Please submit one .pdf file. Docx, doc, png, jpg, htm, html, or any other non-.pdf format will be grounds for non-consideration of your application. Transcripts must be non-secured versions; secured versions prevent us from reading your application and thus will cause your application to be refused.

Proposal Essay: In no more than 2 pages, double-spaced, 12 pt type, describe the project you intend to undertake. Who, what, where, how, when, and why are important questions to address. With whom will you work? Who will you serve? What is exciting, new, or valuable about your project? What contribution will it make? How will you carry out your project; that is, what steps will you take? Why is this project important? When: provide a timeline. Specificity is a virtue.

Academic Context – Project Goals and Objectives:

Abstract: Explain the overall goals of the project in no more than 100 words

Objectives and Methodology (500 words maximum)

State the objectives and relevance of the proposed work in terms intelligible to an educated non-specialist

Briefly evaluate existing knowledge and work in the area and provide a brief background summary justifying the proposed project’s potential contribution to the field

Describe the design and procedures to be employed and provide a timetable and implementation plan for completion of the project

Personal Statement: In no more than 2 pages, double-spaced, 12 pt type, describe how this project fits with your academic, personal, or career plans for the future, and with your current academic, personal, and career interests and activities.

Bibliography: no more than one page – limit of 12 items – of key scholarly works (listed in the citation format used in your discipline) providing background for your project. These may be books or articles, and they may be a mix of theoretical and empirical works that inform the project. If desired, a one-sentence annotation may be used to explain a specific item’s relevance to the project, but annotations are not required

Budget: No more than one page, double-spaced, 12 pt type. Specificity is important. These funds are to support you in your project, including travel and living expenses and research costs. They are not to be used as programming costs of a service project. In keeping with the goals of social entrepreneurship, budget proposals should reflect a careful stewardship of limited resources. For example, rather than proposing a budget based on the per-diem allowance of a federal or corporate employee, budgets should reflect the costs for a student to travel and live safely and modestly in the cultural context in which they will conduct their project.

PennInTouch Transcript: Transcripts must be non-secured versions; secured versions prevent us from reading your application and thus will cause your application to be refused.

Letter of Recommendation

In addition, your faculty research mentor and local project affiliate must separately submit a supporting letter of recommendation on your behalf. It is your responsibility that this letter be submitted to CURF no later than 4:00pm on March 14, 2015. In this letter, your faculty advisor should discuss the feasibility of the project and the adequacy of your preparation to undertake it. The letter should make clear the nature and extent of your contribution in formulating and carrying out the project.

The letter should:

Review and comment on the student’s projected budget

Discuss the project’s feasibility and the adequacy of the applicant’s preparation to complete it

Describe the extent of the student’s contribution in formulating and carrying out the project

Advise the student on any applicable Institutional Review Board or related issues

If applicable, please indicate what supplies or support might be provided by your lab or budget

Please request the letter as soon as possible from your faculty research mentor and local project affiliate via the Recommendation Request Form, and inform both of them whether you have chosen to keep their letter confidential and waive your right of access to it.

Applications will be due March 14, 2015, 4:00pm.

Decisions will be made and announced no later than April 27, 2015.

Requirements and Procedures for Receiving Funding

Funds will not be disbursed until students review CURF’s information on Ethics and Compliance and complete and submit all necessary forms. All CURF-funded student researchers must complete CURF’s Research Experience Checklist and Waiver of Liability. Students conducting research outside the US are required to provide International Travel and Emergency Contact information on the Checklist.

Once the Research Experience Checklist and Waiver of Liability has been submitted to CURF and approved, you will be contacted by the College’s Business Office to complete forms required for disbursement of your stipend. You must complete stipend paperwork with the College’s Business Office before you can be paid. Due to federal employment regulations, you will not receive your stipend until you complete this paperwork.

Research involving animals or hazardous materials must also be submitted at the same time for approval by the relevant University oversight committees. Students should consult with their faculty research advisors to correctly submit any necessary forms.

Contact

Dr. Ann Vernon-Greyanneliza@upenn.edu For questions, and to schedule an appointment to discuss developing an application, please call 215-746-6488

College Alumni Society Undergraduate Research Grant

Fall funding cycle Deadline: 4:00pm, October 24, 2014

Spring Funding Cycle Deadline: 4:00 PM, March 14, 2015

One of the great strengths of the University of Pennsylvania is its capacity to offer significant research experiences to its undergraduates. Members of Penn’s alumni community have created a number of grants to support research and scholarly work of undergraduates in the College of Arts and Sciences. Due to the generosity of Penn alumni, grants are now available in both the Fall and Spring semesters. Complete descriptions of these awards are available at the end of this announcement. Research in any field is eligible for support. Examples of funded projects can be found here. Only students in the College of Arts & Sciences are eligible to apply. College students applying to the College Alumni Society Undergraduate Research Grant will also be considered for the Vagelos, Holtz, and other awards listed at the end of this description – please do not apply separately for each grant.

Applications and all supporting materials, including Faculty recommendations, are due electronically to CURF by 4:00pm, March 14, 2015

These grants are intended to help pay the costs of research projects proposed by students and supervised by a Penn faculty member. Students do not need to specify which grant they are applying for; all use the same application form and deadline, and proposals will be automatically allocated to the appropriate fund.

The grants will be administered according to the following guidelines:

The project shall represent original research or scholarship allowing the student to make a significant contribution to knowledge

The project shall be largely conceived and executed by the student and not simply represent faculty research in which the student assists

While students inherently must investigate their projects before applying for funding, grants will be awarded only for projects to be carried out after the proposal has been approved. Decisions will be made in December and April of each academic year for projects that are to be conducted during the academic year or the following summer. In no case will projects already completed be funded

Each project shall have a faculty advisor who will normally be a member of the SAS standing faculty. In some cases, a qualified advisor from outside the SAS faculty may be appropriate

Recipients are expected to complete their projects before graduation, and therefore students are ineligible to apply during their final undergraduate semester.

Funding should be used to help defray the student’s research costs and should not be a substitute for financial aid nor for the advisor’s research funding. Types of expenses to which the funds may be applied include travel to libraries, museums, archives, and research sites; living expenses that would enable the student to remain at the University during the summer; research equipment and supplies, including books, films, and photocopying; computer or laboratory fees; subject fees necessary to execute a research project; and specialized computer peripherals and software. (Reimbursement of living expenses may be taxable.) Items that cost $500 or more with a useful life of one year or more must be purchased with a University purchase requisition and will remain the property of the University. Last year’s awards ranged from $250 to $1,000; the maximum for each award this year is expected to be about $1,000

All applicants must be undergraduate College of Arts and Sciences students in good standing in the University of Pennsylvania community

If several students are applying to work on aspects of the same project, each student must apply individually and describe clearly their independent research project, approach, methods, and evidence. Each student should also note in their individual application that their work is part of a larger project, and identify the other students working on aspects of the project.

Deadlines and Procedure for Application

Applications will be evaluated by a faculty committee designated by CURF. Applications with late material risk not being considered.

Proposals

Prepare your proposal in consultation with your faculty research advisor. You may also wish to consult with the undergraduate chair in your major department or your major program director. In order to be considered for funding, you must identify and provide the contact information (first and last name, department, email, and phone number) of the business administrator for your primary major. Prepare the following five components in this order before proceeding to the Application Form:

Short abstract (on a separate page; explain the overall goals of the project in less than 100 words)

Objectives and Methodology (500 words maximum)

State the objectives and relevance of the proposed work in terms intelligible to an educated non-specialist

Briefly evaluate existing knowledge and work in the area and provide a brief background summary justifying the proposed project’s potential contribution to the field

Describe the design and procedures to be employed and provide a timetable and implementation plan for completion of the project

Itemized Budget, plus total (on a separate page). List each budget item in order of priority and justify it in terms of the work proposed. Include the total amount needed to complete the project (even if this is more than the grant limit of $1000). If funds are being sought from other sources, state the source and potential amount of such funding. Depending on availability of funds, the amount awarded may be less than the total amount requested

Create an electronic version of your Penn InTouch transcript by going to Academic Records —> Transcript & GPA, and print your transcript as a .pdf

Bibliography (no more than one page – limit of 12 items) of key scholarly works (listed in the citation format used in your discipline) providing background for your project. These may be books or articles, and they may be a mix of theoretical and empirical works that inform the project. If desired, a one-sentence annotation may be used to explain a specific item’s relevance to the project, but annotations are not required

Fill out the application form at Common Research Grant Application. You must submit all these materials in a single file in .pdf format. No other format will be accepted. To create a copy of your Penn transcript, go to Penn InTouch and print your transcript to pdf. (If you don’t have Adobe Acrobat installed on your computer, download the free installer or use a Penn computer that has Adobe Acrobat installed.) Print and save each document as a pdf, then create a single pdf file as indicated above by navigating to Acrobat’s “File -> Create -> Combine Files into a Single PDF” feature.

Letter of Recommendation

In addition, your faculty research advisor must separately submit a supporting letter of recommendation on your behalf. It is your responsibility that this letter be submitted to CURF no later than 4:00pm on October 24, 2014. In this letter, your faculty advisor should discuss the feasibility of the project and the adequacy of your preparation to undertake it. The letter should make clear the nature and extent of your contribution in formulating and carrying out the project.

The letter should:

Review and comment on the student’s projected budget

Discuss the project’s feasibility and the adequacy of the applicant’s preparation to complete it

Describe the extent of the student’s contribution in formulating and carrying out the project

Advise the student on any applicable Institutional Review Board or related issues

If applicable, please indicate what supplies or support might be provided by your lab or budget

Please request the letter as soon as possible from your faculty research advisor via the Recommendation Request Form, and inform your faculty research advisor whether you have chosen to keep their letter confidential and waive your right of access to it.

Once the award has been made and the Research Experience Checklist and Waiver of Liability has been submitted to CURF and approved, research funds and a copy of your budget will be sent to the Business Administrator (BA) of your Primary College major department listed on your application. Recipients must work with their Primary College major department’ s BA to determine how to access these funds.

Research involving animals or hazardous materials must also be submitted for approval by the relevant University oversight committees. Students should consult with their faculty research advisors to correctly submit any necessary forms.

Research Awards Supported by the College Alumni Society

College Alumni Society Grants

The Ernest M. Brown, Jr. College Alumni Society Undergraduate Research Grant, for students in the life sciences or preparing for medical school

The College Alumni Society Board of Managers and Presidents Undergraduate Research Grants

The Allison Lazo Hallingby College Alumni Society Undergraduate Research Grant, for undergraduates in Architecture.

The Ruth Marcus Kanter College Alumni Society Undergraduate Research Grant

The Kelson Family College Alumni Society Undergraduate Research Grant, for projects in environmental studies, theater arts, architecture or Russian studies.

The Kanta Marwah College Alumni Society Undergraduate Research Grant, for projects in economics.

The Mary L. And Matthew S. Santirocco College Alumni Society Undergraduate Research Grant, for projects in classics, humanities, or biomedical studies.

The Cabanne C. Smith College Alumni Society Undergraduate Research Grant, for theater arts.

The Louis H Castor, M.D., C’48 Undergraduate Research Grant, for students planning careers in family medicine and projects in related disciplines.

The Goldfeder Family Undergraduate Research Grant, for projects in biological sciences.

The Dean’s Research Award, for laboratory biomedical research.

The Millstein Family Undergraduate Research Grant, for projects in psychology or urban studies.

The Penn Program on Democracy, Citizenship, and Constitutionalism (DCC) will award up to 10 undergraduate research fellowships for projects to be begun in the summer of 2015 and completed during the 2015-2016 academic year.

Students may receive grants of up to $2500 for research expenses. All full-time Penn undergraduate students enrolled in any school who wish to undertake research pertinent to any dimension of democracy, or citizenship, or constitutionalism are eligible to apply. Projects can address any one (or more) of the program’s three themes. Grants may be combined with funding from other programs. Applicants are expected but not required to conduct research that will contribute to the writing of a Senior Essay or the completion of an independent study course during the 2015-2016 academic year. Work may involve travel to libraries, archives, field or interview sites, or other institutions.

Partnership with Latin American and Latino Studies: Students doing projects on Latino America and/or Latino politics in the United States can also apply and will receive additional advisory support from the Latin America and Latino Studies program. For specific information contact Emilio A. Parrado, e-mail eparrado@sas.upenn.edu.

All grant recipients are required to participate in bi-monthly seminars during the academic year, which will include discussions of research issues and strategies as well as scholarly presentations on the program’s themes. They will be eligible to attend the Penn Program on Democracy, Citizenship, and Constitutionalism’s faculty workshop and conference sessions featuring leading scholars from around the world. All grant recipients are also required to give an oral presentation on their completed research at a DCC Undergraduate Conference near the end of the 2015-2016 academic year. For further information, contact Matthew Roth, DCC Administrator, at maroth@sas.upenn.edu.

Application Process

Please prepare the following in one .pdf document. Please submit one .pdf file. Docx, doc, png, jpg, htm, html, or any other non-.pdf format will be grounds for non-consideration of your application. Transcripts must be non-secured versions; secured versions prevent us from reading your application and thus will cause your application to be refused.

Please attach a statement not exceeding 1000 words describing the aims and rationale for the research project related to some dimension of “Democracy, Citizenship, and Constitutionalism” that you wish to undertake. Indicate as concretely as possible your preliminary research plans.

Please provide a preliminary budget of your research expenses. Appropriate items include research travel, housing, food, and phone costs, book and document costs, fees to use archives, survey costs, etc.

Please provide an UNSECURED copy of your PennInTouch transcript and CV or resume.

Click here to go to the web-based application, where you will be asked to fill out a form and upload the above prepared document. Applications are due no later than March 15, 2015.

In addition, your faculty research advisor must separately submit a supporting letter of recommendation on your behalf indicating the role the Advisor will play in supervising your research in the summer of 2015 and the 2015-2016 academic year. The letter should make clear the nature and extent of your contribution in formulating and carrying out the project. Please ask your faculty research advisor to submit the completed letter in .pdf format via the Recommendation Request Form, and inform your faculty research advisor whether you have chosen to keep their letter confidential and waive your right of access to it. Letters are due no later than March 15, 2015.

Contact

Questions concerning the DCC Undergraduate Research Grants should be directed to Professor Rogers M. Smith, Chair of the Penn Program on Democracy, Citizenship, and Constitutionalism, e-mail rogerss@sas.upenn.edu, phone 215 898-7662, or the DCC Program Administrator, Matthew Roth, e-mail maroth@sas.upenn.edu .

SELTZER FAMILY DIGITAL MEDIA AWARDS

Deadline is March 16, 2015, 4:00pm

Thanks to the generosity of Jeff Seltzer W’78 and his wife Annie, the Penn Libraries is proud to offer digital media project awards for up to five students. Each award will provide to $1,000 for the purchase of hardware or technology (with nominal spending on software and supplies). Funds cannot be used for other purposes such as travel. Students will have exclusive use of the purchased items for one year, after which time the items will return to the Weigle Information Commons for general use. These awards include special consideration for students enrolled in the Huntsman Program. Examples of technology items purchased by previous award winners include: video cameras, audio recorders, virtual reality camera peripherals, microphones, scanners, video lighting and mobile devices. Previous winners have created video documentaries, compiled audio interviews, and conducted qualitative research projects.

CASI partners with grassroots organizations working across India on a range of development issues including health, rural development, environmental sustainability, education, gender, and social enterprise. Penn students apply to specific internships at CASI selected partner organizations and are placed in groups of 2-4. The internship stipend covers all internship related travel and housing costs. Each intern is required to spend ten (10) weeks at their host organization. Current students enrolled in a degree program at the University of Pennsylvania are eligible to apply. More information is available at https://casi.sas.upenn.edu/studentprograms/internships

Application Deadline is March 16, 2015

The Penn Libraries welcome current sophomores and juniors to apply for the Hoesley Digital Literacy Fellows Program. Partially funded by a generous gift from Board Member Jim Hoesley and his wife Sandee Hoesley, and conducted in collaboration with Career Services, the School of Arts and Sciences and the Center for Undergraduate Research and Fellowships (CURF), the program will demystify technology, provide hands-on training and a website building project, and foster career connections.

Who Should Apply?

This program is designed for students who are not familiar with the technology topics listed below. It focuses on building confidence, providing learning strategies and encouraging creative exploration of software and technologies commonly used in the workplace. Comfort and confidence with, and a strong foundation in technology skills can provide a valuable edge in many job and internship searches.

All rising juniors and seniors may apply. Since the program provides workshops throughout the academic year, this may not be a good fit for those who plan to study abroad for a semester or more. Attendance at all workshops is a requirement for completion. The two-hour hands-on workshops will provide 20 hours of instruction over the academic year. Students will be selected based on level of interest and match between their needs and planned training.

The program will select a cohort of up to 15 students in May. Students will meet with library staff in September to plan out personalized programs, and will have opportunities to delve deeper into technologies particularly relevant to careers of interest. The substantial technology expertise of the Weigle Information Commons and Vitale Digital Media Lab staff will be integral. Workshops with hands-on instruction and guest speakers on career-related planning will address the following topics:

Website Project

In addition to formal instruction, students will undertake a guided web design project. Students will create a professional website, which could include a web portfolio or online resume in preparation for job, internship or graduate school search. Collaboration within the cohort and small-group work is expected. Each student will present their completed project at a culminating event to an audience that includes recent alumni and professionals who use digital literacy skills in their careers, and receive personalized feedback.